- Conference Programme -

Texts of the Heisei EraReadings of Contemporary Japanese Literature

June 6th - 7th 2019

Japanologie Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

Senckenberganlage 31D-60325 Frankfurt am Main

Telephone: +49(0)69 798 23287Mobile: +49(0)177 6057333

Fax: +49(0)69 798 22173E-Mail: paulat@em.uni-frankfurt.de

www.japanologie.uni-frankfurt.de

Layout, cover, artwork: David Jungmann | Original Artwork: „Der Au�ruch“ (2014) by Takamatsu Manami

- Conference Organization - Lisette Gebhardt, Christian Chappelow, David Jungmann

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The year 2019 marks the end of an era, an era which has proli�cally produced literary texts.

We are extremely honoured to greet the most interesting group of international scholars who will share with us their distinctive views on various exciting topics and concepts – reaching from border crossing literature to Heisei existentialism. Let them inspire us to think in new ways about the Japanese literature of the past thirty years. Welcome to Frankfurt!

Ursula Gräfe Translator

In Japan hat vor wenigen Wochen ein neues Zeitalter begonnen. Wie ließe sich ein solch spektakulärer

Neuanfang angemessener feiern als mit einer Tagung über die literarische Vielfalt der vergangenen dreißig Jahre? Sechzehn Wissenscha�ler aus sieben Ländern werden uns in einer Vielzahl von Vorträgen ein breites und originelles Spektrum neuerer Forschungsperspektiven zu Gehör bringen, die sich von der traditionellen Frage nach der Fremdheit japanischer Literatur gelöst haben. „Nihon/go Literature Goes Global“ lautet das Motto.

Als Literatur-Übersetzerin und Absolventin der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität freue ich mich besonders auf diese einmalige Gelegenheit.

Ursula GräfeÜbersetzerin

Greeting | Grußwort

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The Institute of Japanese Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt is glad to host the

International conference „Texts of the Heisei Era – Readings of Contemporary Japanese Literature“ from June 6th to 7th.

One month into Reiwa, the conference will look back at three decades of literary production marking the Heisei Era. In 15 presentations we will look at ‘classical’ authors such as Murakami Ryū and Kawakami Mieko, the former ‘J-bungaku’ representative Abe Kazushige, or typical Heisei-writers such as Nakamura Fuminori, Miura Shion and Hiwa Satoko. Special �elds (e.g. ekkyō bungaku, post-3.11 literature) and special issues (the sociological interest with its hikikomori-protagonists) will also be addressed, as well as the so-called queer literature.

One key question remains central throughout our discussions: What de�nes Heisei literature? �e way we respond depends substantially on the science culture we were socialized in - or the one we want to commit to - as well as the way we understand our role as researchers of Japanese literature.

�e Frankfurt meeting of researchers from Japan, the USA, England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany o�ers the opportunity to discuss this vital topics – which would certainly be desirable in the current global situation of encroaching collectivism and the rejection of intellectuality and linguistic re�nement.

Lisette GebhardtHead of Literature and Culture Studies, Goethe University

Short Introduction: Texts of the Heisei Era

Das Institut für Japanologie an der Goethe-Universität freut sich, vom 6. bis 7. Juni die

Internationale Tagung „Texte der Ära Heisei – Lesungen zeitgenössischer japanischer Literatur“ in Frankfurt auszurichten. Einen Monat nach Beginn der Reiwa-Zeit, möchte die Veranstaltung auf drei Dekaden literarischer Produktion der Heisei-Epoche zurückblicken.

In 15 Beiträgen möchten wir „klassische“ Autoren dieser Periode wie z.B. Murakami Ryū und Kawakami Mieko betrachten oder einen früheren Vertreter der J-Bungaku wie Abe Kazushige, zudem typische Heisei-Autoren wie Nakamura Fuminori, Miura Shion und Hiwa Satoko. Spezialbereiche (etwa ekkyō bungaku, post-3.11 Literatur, ‚queere Literatur‘) sowie Sonderthemen (die soziologische Wende mit ihrem Fokus auf problematische Sozio-typen = hikikomori) sind Gegenstand des Interesses.

Zu diskutieren bleibt sicher immer die

Leitfrage der Tagung: Was macht die Heisei-Literatur aus? Wie wir diese beantworten werden, hängt zu einem großen Teil davon ab, in welcher Wissenscha�stradition wir sozialisiert wurden bzw. welcher wir uns verpichten wollen und wie wir unsere Rolle als Forscher der japanischen Literatur verstehen.

Die Frankfurter Zusammenkun� von Forschern und Forscherinnen aus Japan, den USA, England, Frankreich, Italien, der Schweiz, Österreich und Deutschland bietet Gelegenheit, sich auch über diese �emen auszutauschen – was sicher wünschenswert wäre in der aktuellen globalen Situation der Sprachfeindlichkeit und Kollektivisierung.

Lisette GebhardtFachvertreterin Japanologie an der Goethe Universität

Zur Einführung: Texte der Ära Heisei

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Conference Programme | Tagungsprogramm

�ursday, June 6th 2019�e Eisenhower Room, Norbert-Wollheim-Platz 1, Campus Westend

15:30 - 15:45 Ursula Gräfe Greeting | Grußwort

15:45 - 16:00

Lisette Gebhardt, David Jungmann, Christian Chappelow Opening Remarks | Zur Erö�nung

16:00 - 16:45 Michiko Mae

Keynote „What is the Heisei-Literature? New Tendencies in

Japanese Literature of the Last Thirty Years“

Presentations | Vorträge

16:45 - 17:30 Je�rey Angles

„Nihon/go Literature Goes Global“

17:30 - 18:15 Christian Chappelow

„Japanese Ecopoetry of the Late Heisei Era“

18:15 - 19:00 Victoria Young„A Personal Resistance: Language and Intertexuality in

Tōma Hiroko’s Poetry“

19:30

Dinner at „Gemaltes Haus“ (Frankfurt)

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Friday, June 7th 2019Juridicum 717, Senckenberganlage 31-33, Campus Bockenheim

Presentations | Vorträge

09:45 - 10:15 Aylin Orbay„�e Permeable Borders of Literary Genre:

Ekkyō bungaku“

10:15 - 11:00 Maren Haufs-Brusberg„Two Authors of Korean Japanese Literature in the Heisei

Period: Sagisawa Megumu and Kaneshiro Kazuki“

11:00 - 11:45 Fujiwara Dan

„�e Challenges of Japanese-Language Border-Crossing Literature: “Roji” in

Rībi Hideo’s Fictions“

11:45 - 12:30 Adam Greguš „�e Oppressed Strike Back: Nakamura Fuminori’s Heisei

Existentialism of Suri and Ōkoku“

12:30 - 13:30

Lunch Break

13:30 - 14:00 Eva Bender„Queer Literature �rough the Heisei Era:

Love on Holiday by Fujino Chiya“

14:00 - 14:45 Daniela Tan„Transgression of Borders in the Works of Hiwa Satoko,

Nakajima Kyōko and Miura Shion“

14:45 - 15:30 Yoshio Hitomi

„Kawakami Mieko’s Writings as Post-3.11 Literature“

15:30 - 16:15 Filippo Cervelli

„Save the Birds and You Will Save Yourself: Between Social Malaise, otaku and hikikomori in Abe Kazushige’s

Nipponia Nippon“

16:15 - 17:00

Co�ee Break

17:00 - 17:30 Anita Drexler„Healing �rough Nostalgia: Sada Masashi and his

Transmedia Storytelling in the Heisei Era“

17:30 - 18:15 Yuqi Chen„Remembrance of the Second World War in Texts

of the Heisei Era“

18:15 - 19:00 David Jungmann„Deconstructing Japan: Murakami Ryū as Archetypical

Author of the Heisei Era“

19:15 - 20:00Je�rey Angles, Christian Chappelow

Reading of Heisei Poetry „Transcending Heisei“

20:15

Dinner at Restaurant „Namaste“

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Abstracts | Zusammenfassungen

Day 1: Campus Westend

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Michiko Mae (Düsseldorf) �ursday, June 6th 2019 | 16:00-16:45 | �e Eisenhower Room (Campus Westend)

平成文学とは何か？平成時代30年における日本文学の新しい傾向

VitaProf. Dr. Michiko Mae, founding director of the Department for Modern Japan Studies at Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf.

Contactmae@phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de

Eine Aufgabe der Literaturgeschichtsschreibung ist die Konstruktion von Sinnzusammenhängen,

auch in Bezug auf die jeweilige Epoche. In dem Vortrag soll einerseits analysiert werden, wie die Literatur der Heisei-Zeit auf bestimmte Ereignisse und Tendenzen der Zeit reagiert hat, andererseits

aber auch grundsätzlich, wie die japanische Literatur sich in den letzten dreißig Jahren entwickelt hat und welche neuen Tendenzen man als Charakteristik der Heisei-Literatur feststellen kann.

文学史叙述の課題とはある時期における文学の意味の関連を構築することだと言われる。そこで本講演では、まず平成時代30年間に文学は 時代とその時代の主な出来事や傾向にどう反応

したのかを分析し、第二に平成時代に、日本文学には全体としてどのような発展があり、その発展の傾向とはどのようなものなのかを考えて みたい。

Was ist die Heisei-Literatur? Neue Tendenzen der japanischen Literatur der letzten 30 Jahre

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Since the dawn of modern Japanese literature, there have been writers who le� Japan and went

abroad to search for themselves and absorb new literary ideas. At the beginning of the twenty-�rst century, however, Japanese literature is more global than ever. Several of Japan’s most important writers live abroad and write about their position as both a national and global citizen. Meanwhile, non-native speakers have recently won several of Japan’s most prestigious literary awards, so much so that critics are using the word ekkyō bungaku (border-crossing literature) to refer to their writing. In fact, when my own book of Japanese-language poetry Watashi no hizuke henkō sen (My International Date Line, 2016) won the 2017 Yomiuri Prize for Literature, I found my own writing being described using those same words.

Transnational writers have expanded the notions of Nihon bungaku, usually understood

as the “literature of Japan” produced in Japan by Japanese writers, to become something more expansive and appropriate for the twenty-�rst century: a Nihongo bungaku. Not surprisingly, a common theme in much of this new literature is the ways that language changes and grows as world languages and cultural systems come together in unpredictable ways. �is talk will look at this theme in two award-winning transnational writers—the poet Itō Hiromi who divides her time between California and Kumamoto, and the novelist Tawada Yōko who resides in Berlin—while sharing some of my own personal insights as an American poet who has spent large chunks of his life in Japan and writes in Japanese. �e inventive and o�en experimental Nihongo bungaku produced by these writers has much to teach us about the ways that people negotiate being a global citizen and a Japanese-language author at the same time.

Je�rey Angles (Western Michigan) �ursday, June 6th 2019 | 16:45-17:30 | �e Eisenhower Room (Campus Westend)

Nihon/go Literature Goes Global

VitaJe�rey Angles is a professor of Japanese literature at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, a poet, and translator. His collection of original Japanese-language poetry Watashi no hizuke henkō sen (My International Date Line, 2016), won the highly coveted Yomiuri Prize for Literature, an honor accorded to only a tiny handful of non-native speakers since the award began in 1949.

Contactje�rey.angles@wmich.edu

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The threefold catastrophe of March 11, 2011 can be discussed as a partial caesura within

Heisei-era poetry: A turning point for some poets at least, de�ned in �rst instance by their socio-political intent. In a retrospective view of the last Heisei decade, however, the triple catastrophe is showing itself to be a starting point for broader discussions of technology ethics in Japan as well - in particular the human relationship to nuclear technology and, more fundamentally, nature as a whole. With

the establishment of the 20-kilometer exclusion zone, poets also raised urgent questions about the environment and sustainable technology use: Wakamatsu Jōtarō (* 1935) in his post-Fukushima poetry fundamentally asks about the state of humanity in technology dependent modernity. �e emergence of a second „nuclear“ literature, therefore, as a speci�c Japanese contribution to contemporary ecopoetry?

Christian Chappelow (Frankfurt) �ursday, June 6th 2019 | 17:30-18:15 | �e Eisenhower Room (Campus Westend)

Japanese Ecopoetry of the Late Heisei Era

VitaChristian Chappelow, M.A. is a research fellow at the Department of Japanese Studies at Goethe University, Frankfurt. His research interests include contemporary Japanese poetry with particular focus on political writings and representations of the “nuclear”. He submitted his PhD thesis on poet Wakamatsu Jōtarō (*1935) in spring of 2019.

Contactchappelow@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Die Dreifachkatastrophe vom 11. März 2011 kann als Teilzäsur innerhalb Heisei-

zeitlicher Lyrikproduktion diskutiert werden. Mit retrospektivem Blick auf die letzte Heisei-Dekade zeigt sich die Dreifachkatastrophe jedoch auch als Ausgangspunkt für weitreichende Diskussionen von Technikethik in Japan, insbesondere dem Verhältnis Mensch und Atom sowie, grundlegender, dem Verhältnis Mensch und Natur. Spätestens mit der Etablierung der 20-Kilometer-Sperrzone rücken

weitere Fragen an Umwelt und Nachhaltigkeit in den Vordergrund. So fragt der aus Fukushima stammende Lyriker Wakamatsu Jōtarō (*1935) in seinen Gedichten nach 2011 eindringlich nach dem Zustand von Menschlichkeit in der Technikmoderne. Ist das Au�ommen einer zweiten Literatur des „Nuklearen“ also als spezi�sch japanischer Anknüpfungspunkt an zeitgenössische „ecopoetry“ zu sehen?

Japanische Umweltlyrik der späten Heisei-Zeit

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In 2011, novelist and scholar Ōshiro Sadatoshi described Okinawa as an ‘island of poetry’. Yet,

despite a gradual increase in the number of works of Okinawan narrative � ction in translation and related critical scholarship in English, Okinawan contemporary poetry has been neglected, especially that written by women. � is paper seeks to redress this balance by introducing A Personal Calendar (Hitori no carendā, 2009), a slender yet acclaimed collection by poet Tōma Hiroko (b. 1982), for which she won the 32nd Yamanokuchi Baku Poetry Prize, named a� er one of Okinawa’s most appraised modern poets, in 2009.

A Personal Calendar describes the experiences of a young Okinawan woman who leaves for Tokyo and later returns. Tōma’s poignant use of language reveals the narrator’s fondness for her home and her experience of dislocation and detachment

from afar, while scattered Okinawan cultural and linguistic referents disrupt the disarming simplicity of her poetic forms. � is paper will concentrate on two poems from Tōma’s collection: Backbone (Senaka) and Translation (Hon’yaku). Backbone re-imagines Baku’s poem A Conversation (1936) as a critique of Okinawa’s postwar US military occupation. Translation then playfully de� es the implicit expectation of the mainland that Okinawan voices should speak only in standard Japanese. By translating both poems and tracing their intertextual connections to a wider poetic tradition, this paper reads Tōma’s appealing work as a personal act of resistance to the ongoing injustices faced by Okinawan lives and against their erasure from a mainstream literary imagination.

Victoria Young (Cambridge)� ursday, June 6th 2019 | 18:15-19:00 | � e Eisenhower Room (Campus Westend)

A personal Resistance: Language and Intertexuality in Tōma Hiroko’s Poetry

VitaDr. Victoria Young is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at University of Cambridge. Her research interests include modern and contemporary literature in Japan and Okinawa, the writing of ethnic, gendered, and linguistic di� erence in literature (in both colonial period and contemporary ‚transborder‘ contexts); feminist literary criticism; translation in theory and practice.

Contactvy202@cam.ac.uk

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Abstracts | Zusammenfassungen

Day 2: Campus Bockenheim

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In the Heisei Era, the term ekkyō bungaku emerged to describe works written in Japanese by non-

native speakers or works written in a language other than Japanese by Japanese native speakers. As such, ekkyō bungaku is still ill-de�ned as a literary genre, with the discourse in literary criticism centering around questions of nationality, language and the dichotomy of belonging and exclusion. In an

attempt to draw the boundaries of ekkyō, the aim of this paper is to �rst provide an overview of a representative sample of ekkyō writers, their texts and their reception in Japanese literary criticism and secondly to situate the work of Akutagawa-Prize nominee Wen Yourou within the context of border-crossing literature, its themes and narrative strategies.

Aylin Orbay (Frankfurt) Friday, June 7th 2019 | 09:45-10:15 | Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

The Permeable Borders of Literary Genre: Ekkyō bungaku

VitaAylin Orbay, B.A. received her Bachelor Degree at Goethe University Frankfurt in 2015, having studied Japanese Studies and Pedagogy. Her research interests include contemporary Japanese Literature and Narratology.

Contactaylin_orbay@gmx.de

Der Begri� ekkyō bungaku entstand in der Heisei-Ära und bezeichnet sowohl

literarische Werke, die von Nicht-Muttersprachlern auf Japanisch verfasst wurden, als auch nicht-japanischsprachige Literatur, geschrieben von Japanisch-Muttersprachlern. Als literarische Gattung ist ekkyō bungaku damit noch unscharf de�niert.

Um die Grenzen von ekkyō klarer zu ziehen, soll in diesem Vortrag ein Überblick über eine repräsentative Auswahl von Autoren, deren

Texte und ihre Rezeption in der japanischen Literaturwissenscha� gegeben werden. Exemplarisch wird anschließend das Werk der für den Akutagawa-Preis nominierten Autorin Wen Yourou (*1980) innerhalb der grenzüberschreitenden Literatur nach ihren Motiven und narrativen Strategien verortet. Ihr Gebrauch des Code-Switchings soll dabei als Stilmittel für die Darstellung des Sprachkontaktphänomens in einigen ekkyō-Werken diskutiert werden.

Die durchlässigen Grenzen literarischer Gattungen: Ekkyō bungaku

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In the Heisei period, the authors of Korean Japanese literature dealt with a wide range of

topics in their texts, introducing new perspectives and orientations. �e present paper examines the Korean Japanese writing of two of these authors, Sagisawa Megumu (1968-2004) and Kaneshiro Kazuki (*1968). Particularly, the paper focuses on the following questions: In which sense can the

texts of Sagisawa and Kaneshiro be regarded as representative for the Korean Japanese literature of the Heisei period? Did their writing share common characteristics with the Japanese literature of the Heisei period in general? And which role did the new media play for these authors and the reception of their texts?

Maren Haufs-Brusberg (Düsseldorf) Friday, June 7th 2019 | 10:15-11:00 | Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

Two Authors of Korean Japanese Literature in the Heisei Period: Sagisawa Megumu and Kaneshiro Kazuki

VitaMaren Haufs-Brusberg, M.A. is a lecturer at the department of Modern Japanese Studies at Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf. In 2011 she received her M.A. from University of Trier, having studied Japanese Studies, Political Sciences, Sociology and Philosophy. She is writing her PhD thesis about gender identities and ethnic identities in contemporary Korean Japanese literature.

Contactmaren.haufs-brusberg@hhu.de

Im Zentrum der japankoreanischen Literatur der Heisei-Ära stehen Texte der sogenannten

dritten Generation japankoreanischer Autorinnen und Autoren, beispielsweise aus der Feder von Yi Yang-ji (1955-1992), Sagisawa Megumu (1968-2004), Yū Miri (geb. 1968), Gen Getsu (geb. 1965)

und Kaneshiro Kazuki (geb. 1968). Charakteristisch für diese neue, dritte literarische Generation war eine augenfällige Entpolitisierung, die sich auch hinsichtlich der Entwicklung der japanischen Literatur insgesamt feststellen lässt.

Entwicklungen und Themen der japankoreanischen Literatur in der Heisei-Ära

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A small number of literary works written in Japanese by non-native speakers have been

published since the end of the 1980s. Although they have received mixed reviews from readers and critics, they represent an interesting set of texts within the works published during the Heisei Era. �is contemporary genre, which I call “Japanese-language border-crossing literature” (Nihongo ekkyō bungaku), includes writers such as Rībi Hideo (Ian Hideo Levy, *1950), who made his debut with Seijōki no kikoenai heya (1987; trans. Christopher D. Scott, A Room Where the Star-Spangled Banner, 2011), Debiddo Zopetī (David Zoppetti, *1962), Yan Ī (Yang Yi, *1964), Shirin Nezama� (Shirin Nezamma�, *1979), and Āsā Binādo (Arthur Binard, *1967). �ese writers have consistently challenged the unspoken rule that Japanese literature is written by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and for Japanese readers, thereby urging us to rethink what can be called truly Japanese literature.

Beyond this conceptual issue, one of the most striking aspects of Japanese-language border-crossing literature, and one that deserves more positive recognition, is that the authors independently choose the Japanese language to create their literary works and use it to explore the outside world beyond Japan. �e aim of my presentation is to discuss this topic by analysing Rībi Hideo’s �ctional works, in particular his short stories, which are primarily set in China. I will show how the author describes China, especially its declining suburban areas, and how he develops an original writing style in Japanese using the word roji, borrowed from Nakagami Kenji (1946-1992), who used it to refer to buraku in his own novels. My hope is to suggest another/an alternative framework for thinking about Heisei Era texts.

Fujiwara Dan (Toulouse) Friday, June 7th 2019 | 11:00-11:45 | Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

The Challenges of Japanese-Language Border-Crossing Literature: “Roji” in Rībi Hideo’s Fictions

VitaFujiwara Dan is an associate professor at the University of Toulouse – Jean Jaurès (France) and member of the Centre for Japanese Studies (CEJ-Inalco, France). A�er having received his PhD. from University Paris Diderot, he shi�ed from modern French Literature to modern and contemporary Japanese literature. His current research focuses on “border-crossing literature” (ekkyō bungaku) and post-3.11 literature, especially the works of Rībi Hideo, Mizumura Minae, and Tawada Yōko.

Contactdan.fujiwara@univ-tlse2.fr

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In recent years, Nakamura Fuminori has become one of the most prominent Japanese authors of

contemporary crime literature. His bleak stories, narrated by dubious antiheroes, are well exempli�ed by two “sister novels” conceived as parallel stories, Suri (2009, eng. �e �ief, 2012) and Ōkoku (2011, eng. �e Kingdom, 2016). �is talk will map out the essential characteristics of Nakamura’s work as seen in these two examples. In the context of post-Fukushima literature, Nakamura creates a counter-project to the literature of “healing” (iyashi) through pronounced and frequent references to existentialism or Russian classics such as Crime or Punishment, as well as his unyielding focus on systemic inequality and exploitation of the weakest and most vulnerable within the Japanese society. In Suri and Ōkoku, Nakamura’s criticism of Japan as a system, his portrayal of moral ambiguity and crime, motives of childhood and especially child abuse (a pivotal aspect of Nakamura’s �ction) and aspects of class and gender are of particular interest.

Nakamura’s protagonists o�en become victims of manipulation which is invisible to them and, once faced with it, they �nd themselves powerless against.

�ey are pushed to the margins of society or into crime; and as concurrent perpetrators and victims, they are steadily positioned in a moral grey zone. �e narrators of Suri (a pickpocket) and Ōkoku (a prostitute) �nd out that their life paths have been masterminded by a yakuza boss ever since they were children, and are eventually forced to perform jobs for him, all the while searching for a way out of their respective predicaments. In both novels, Nakamura portrays Japan as a place of decay, thoroughly permeated by class injustice. In this talk, I will critically explore Nakamura’s portrayal of post-disaster Japan as well as suggestions for liberation from its crisis, as hinted at in his works.

Adam Greguš (Wien) Friday, June 7th 2019 | 11:45-12:30 | Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

The Oppressed Strike Back: Nakamura Fuminori’s Heisei Existentialism of Suri and Ōkoku

VitaAdam Greguš, M.A. studied Japanese Studies and �eatre, Film and Media Studies at the University of Vienna and is active as a research assistant there since October 2018. From 2015 to 2017, he worked as a research assistant at the University of Trier, where he also began a dissertation project on Hayashi Fumiko’s writing during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Paci�c War.

Contactadam.gregus@univie.ac.at

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The Heisei period has been a critical era in which for the �rst time the “gay boom” was taken up

by the mainstream media and public. It was followed by more visibility, the �rst Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade in 1994 and the publishing of essential books like Private Gay Life (1991) by Fushimi Noriaki (*1963) and On being Lesbian (1992) by Kakefuda Hiroko (*1964). Especially the 1990s experienced a huge leap in queer stories and a wide academic and public discourse about them. Nevertheless, the

question remains on how to de�ne Queer Literature through the Heisei Era. In my presentation I will discuss the di�erent interpretations behind “queer”, highlight the contradictions between them and attempt to give a de�nition by taking the story Love on Holiday (1999) by award-winning writer Fujino Chiya (*1962), a trans-woman herself, into consideration.

Eva Bender (Frankfurt) Friday, June 7th 2019 | 13:30-14:00 | Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

Queer Literature Through the Heisei Era: Love on Holiday by Fujino Chiya

VitaEva Bender, B.A. is a student research assistant at the Department of Japanese Studies at Goethe University, Frankfurt. Her research interests include queer theory and contemporary Japanese Art.

Contactevbender@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Zu Beginn der Heisei-Zeit werden die Mainstream-Medien angefangen bei Serien,

Magazinen und Filmen vom sogenannten „gay boom“ eingenommen. Darau�in �nden queere Menschen in der Gesellscha� mehr Beachtung, die erste Pride Parade �ndet 1994 statt, und elementare Werke wie Private Gay Life (1991) von Fushimi Noriaki (*1963) und On being Lesbian (1992) von Kakefuda Hiroko werden verö�entlicht. Vor allem die 1990er bilden die Geburtsstunde der Queer

�eory, wie sich u.a. am umfassenden akademischen und ö�entlichen Diskurs zeigt. Nichtsdestotrotz kann in der Heisei-Zeit keine allgemeingültige De�nition von queerer Literatur vorgelegt werden. Im Vortrag werden die verschiedenen Interpretationen des Begri�s „queer“ vorgestellt, die einzelnen Widersprüche herausgearbeitet, und es wird versucht, anhand des Werkes Love on Holiday (1999) der Akutagawa-Preisträgerin Fujino Chiya (*1962) queere Literatur zu de�nieren.

Queere Literatur in der Heisei-Ära: Love on Holiday von Fujino Chiya

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The transgression of borders (ekkyōsei) is in many ways a core topic within contemporary

Japanese literature: linguistic, medial and with regards to content. I shall discuss this thesis, using the example of texts by three Heisei-writers. �e blurring of borders between this world and the a�erworld in Urashima (2016) und Yukue (2012) by Hiwa Satoko (*1974), the impact of traditional ways

of living irrupting the unsaid rules of the nuclear family in Heisei daikazoku (2006-2007) and Chiisai ouchi (2010) by Nakajima Kyōko (*1964), and the power of a lesbian love that overcomes borders between nations, norms, and life and death in Nonanhana tsūshin (2018) by Miura Shion (*1976).

Daniela Tan (Zürich) Friday, June 7th 2019 | 14:00-14:45 | Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

Transgression of Borders in the Works of Hiwa Satoko, Nakajima Kyōko and Miura Shion

VitaDaniela Tan is a senior lecturer at the Japanese department of the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies of Zurich University. Her research focus is contemporary literature and literary criticism. Currently she also serves as a research associate in the ERC project „Time in Medieval Japan“, and works on body time – the conceptualization of the female body in medical, religious and literary texts.

Contactdaniela.tan@aoi.uzh.ch

Grenzüberschreitung kennzeichnet die neuere japanische Gegenwartsliteratur sowohl auf

sprachlicher, medialer wie auch inhaltlicher Ebene. Die Ära Heisei als zufällige und mechanische Zäsur innerhalb der japanischen Gegenwartsliteratur (gendai bungaku) mag fragwürdig sein, zumal eines der Merkmale zeitgenössischer Literatur gerade das Grenzüberschreitende (ekkyōsei) ist, wie Kawamura Minato bereits 2009 feststellte. Diese verweist sowohl auf die globalisierte Rezeption

übersetzter japanischer Literatur wie auch auf die Produktion japanischsprachiger Literatur von ausländischen AutorInnen – und damit auf die grundsätzliche Problematik einer nationalen Literatur (kokubungaku).

Am Beispiel ausgewählter Werke von drei Heisei-Autorinnen soll die Erkundung des Neulandes jenseits herkömmlicher (und ebenso zufälliger) Grenzen aufgezeigt und diskutiert werden.

Grenzüberschreitungen bei drei Heisei-Autorinnen: Hiwa Satoko, Nakajima Kyōko and Miura Shion

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For many Japanese writers, the tragedy of 3.11 triggered not only a profound disruption of

normality, but a radical re�guring of what normality is for our everyday existence. For the author Kawakami Mieko, the catastrophic event allowed her to reconnect with an earlier trauma of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. While this experience of her youth profoundly shaped the themes underlying her work, it was only a�er 3.11 that Kawakami begins to reexamine and shi� the traumatic memory to the core of her philosophy and write with a new-found consciousness as Japan became thrust onto the international stage, when its post-

disaster response (literary, political, environmental) became the object of attention in the global media. �is paper explores Kawakami’s immediate, poetic response to the disaster of 3.11 through March Yarn (2011), and the evocation of memory and trauma in Wisteria and �ree Women (2017), written six years later. It will address the questions that many writers grappled with as they faced a new awareness of citizenship and a global audience a�er 3.11: What responsibilities did they have as writers for their nation? What did it mean to be a Japanese writer in the twenty-�rst century, especially a�er such an immense national and environmental crisis?

Yoshio Hitomi (Tōkyō) Friday, June 7th 2019 | 14:45-15:30 | Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

Kawakami Mieko’s Writings as Post-3.11 Literature

VitaYoshio Hitomi is an associate professor at Waseda University, Tōkyō. Her main area of specialization is modern and contemporary Japanese literature with a focus on women’s writing and literary communities.

Contacthyoshio@waseda.jp

東日本大震災がもたらした悲劇は、川上未映子をはじめとする多くの日本人作家にとって、人々の日常を深刻なまでに混乱させただけでなく、「日常」とは何かということを根本的に見直す契機となった。また同時に川上にとっては、若い頃に経験した1995年の阪神・淡路大震災というトラウマに再び回帰することとなった。川上の人生観には震災経験が大きく影響しているが、3.11以前は自分の作品のテーマの基盤にトラウマの根源があることを明確に提示することはなかった。東日本大震災後初めて、その2つの大惨事を結びつけ、被災後の日本の文学者や政治家の反応や、環境問題に関する日本の対応に、世界中のメディアの関心が集まり、日本が国際的な

舞台に押し出されたという新たな意識を持って書き始めたのである。本発表の前半では、東日本大震災を扱った川上の代表的作品「三月の毛糸」（2012年）における「まえのひ」という詩的概念について論じる。そして後半では、震災6年後に書かれた最新作の短編「ウィステリアと三人の女たち」（2017年）を論じる。発表を通して、このような国家的惨事や地球環境問題に直面した際に問われる文学の価値、作家としての責任、国家という枠組み、などという大きな問題についても考えたい。

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In his variegated �ction, Abe Kazushige is attentive to controversial subjects, social crises

and obsessions that make up the so-called “dark Japan.” Exploring the tropes associated with these social manifestations, his literature allows to reect on common constructions of social categories, and how they may be used to interrogate contemporary Japanese society.

�e novel Nipponia Nippon (2001) is a prime case study for this. It is the story of the teenage recluse Tōya Haruo preparing meticulously for his mission to in�ltrate an endangered species facility in northern Japan to break out specimens of crested ibis, the symbol of the Japanese government’s sel�sh nationalistic policies. Due to the protagonist’s isolated life style, the novel can be associated with hikikomori literature, yet a closer analysis reveals that it stages a delicate interplay with issues and expectations that are usually related to otaku, such as obsessive interests and the supposed lack of a

purpose in life, but also with pathologies related to the dependence for others’ recognition and acceptance (which have been highlighted for example in studies by psychiatrist Saitō Tamaki). By playing with and deconstructing social stereotypes and tropes in such individual crises usually associated with contemporary Japanese youth, Nipponia Nippon o�ers a powerful literary reection on the relevance of the role played by these general perceptions in the construction of “pathological” identities in contemporary Japan. In doing so, it brings forward a trait new in Heisei literature, namely the interplay with images of post-bubble Japanese society, and the engagement with the readers to highlight the issues’ interdependence and reect on their truth.

Filippo Cervelli (Durham) Friday, June 7th 2019 | 15:30-16:15 | Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

Save the Birds and You Will Save Yourself: Between Social Malaise, otaku and hikikomori in Abe Kazushige’s Nipponia Nippon

VitaFilippo Cervelli is a teaching fellow in Japanese at Durham University. He is interested in representations of individual and social crises across contemporary humanities, ranging from literature to animation and comics.

Contact�lippo.cervelli@durham.ac.uk

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For almost �ve decades Sada Masashi, a Nagasaki-born songsmith, has maintained a distinguished

career in Japanese popular music. By promoting images of wholesome families, nostalgic hometowns and a slower approach to life, his lyrics are o�en regarded as the epitome of Shōwa-era songwriting. In recent years Sada managed to establish a second career as an author of prose, where, despite being considered more of a minor �gure, his works have enjoyed considerable commercial success.

In my presentation I will draw out the main narratives of Sadas lyrics, explaining the multiplatform approach to his storytelling eminent almost exclusively during the Heisei-era. Furthermore, I will explore Sadas own brand of iyashi-kei, with its connections to what has become known as Shōwa-nostalgia, contrasting it with discourses on more prominent writers of both genres.

Anita Drexler (Wien) Friday, June 7th 2019 | 17:00-17:30 | Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

Healing Through Nostalgia: Sada Masashi and his Transmedia Storytelling in the Heisei Era

Der Name Sada Masashi verkörpert in Japan, wie wenige sonst, das Liedermachen der

Shōwa-Zeit. Als er im Jahr 2003 mit Shōrō nagashi seinen ersten Roman verö�entlichte, wurde dieser, entgegen gemischter Kritiken, zum kommerziellen Erfolg. Der Vortrag möchte die großen Narrative o�enlegen, mit denen Sada in seinen Arbeiten der Heisei-Zeit operierte. Er soll aufzeigen, wie Shōwa-Nostalgie als Stilmittel nicht nur innerhalb der iyashi-

Literatur, sondern auch des Songwritings fungiert und welche Rolle geschicktes Crossmarketing in seiner Verbreitung einnehmen kann. Zudem soll illustriert werden, wie ostentatives Japanisch-sein als Gegenströmung zu Trends der Heisei-Zeit wie Globalisierung und Exophonie eingesetzt wird.

VitaAnita Drexler received a B.A. in Japanese Studies from the University of Vienna, from which she has recently graduated with a Master’s degree. Her research interests lie in the �eld of mainstream popular music and its relationship with nationalistic discourses and cultural policies.

Contactdrexler_anita@hotmail.com

Heilung durch Shōwa-Nostalgie: Die Transmedialität Sada Masashis in der Heisei-Zeit

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Coming at a time when memory is shi�ing to postmemory, and the so-called “experiencing

generation” to the “confessing generation”, this presentation explores how the Second World War is re-examined and recreated in texts of the Heisei Era by Japanese writers who have no direct war experiences. �rough the lens of postmemory, which has been widely incorporated into the critical discourse of Holocaust studies, this presentation focuses on works of three contemporary Japanese

writers: Murakami Haruki (*1949), Okuizumi Hikaru (*1951), and Nakajima Kyōko (*1964). Furthermore, being aware of recent tendencies of traumatic memories moving away from a historical focus towards ethical concerns, I attempt to uncover the new attitude that third-generation writers introduce towards war memories.

Yuqi Chen (Munich) Friday, June 7th 2019 | 17:30-18:15 | Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

Remembrance of the Second World War in Texts of the Heisei Era

VitaYuqi Chen, M.A. is a Ph.D. student at LMU Munich. Her current research interests includes war and peace in Japanese literature, memory and cultural trauma, and feminist theory.

Contactwhuchenyuqi@gmail.com

In Zeiten, in denen „Erinnerung“ in „Nacherinnerung“ übergeht, und in denen

aus der sogenannten „erfahrenden Generation“ eine „gestehende Generation“ geworden ist, möchte mein Vortrag aufzeigen, wie der Zweite Weltkrieg in Texten der Heisei-Ära von japanischen Schri�stellerInnen ohne eigene Kriegserfahrung literarisch konstruiert und neu bewertet wurde. Von der Warte der „Postmemory“, die in Diskursen der Holocaust-Studien weitreichende Verwendung fand, konzentriert sich meine Präsentation auf

Werke von drei zeitgenössischen japanischen Schri�stellerinnen und Schri�stellern: Murakami Haruki (*1949), Okuizumi Hikaru (*1951) und Nakajima Kyōko (*1964). Ich möchte aufzeigen, welche Sichtweisen und Einstellungen diese Akteure der dritten Generation in das Feld der Kriegserinnerungen einführen – gerade vor dem Hintergrund der jüngsten Tendenz, traumatische Erinnerungen losgelöst von historischen Kontexten an Hand ethischer Fragestellungen zu bewerten.

Erinnerung an den Zweiten Weltkrieg in Texten der Heisei-Ära

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When Murakami Ryū (*1952) won the Akutagawa Prize for his controversial yet

highly successful debut novel Kagirinaku tōmei ni chikai burū (1976), the then only 24-year old was still considered to be somewhat of an outcast. Critics like Etō Jun (1932-1999) outright dismissed Murakami, calling him receiving the most prestegious award for japanese Literature to be nothing short but „nonsense“ (nansensu). For the most part though, his status as an „Enfant terrible“ was by Murakamis

very own design, as he managed to position himself just outside of the fringes of what used to be considered either Pure Literature (junbungaku) or Modern Literature (kindai bungaku).

�e debates around the so called “Japanese Postmodern” followed him throughout most of his highly productive career, Murakami set a precedent for many young authors that debuted during the Heisei Era.

Damian David Jungmann (Frankfurt) Friday, June 7th 2019 | 18:15-19:00 | Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

Deconstructing Japan: Murakami Ryū as Archetypical Author of the Heisei Era

VitaDamian David Jungmann is a research fellow at the Department of Japanese Studies at Goethe University, Frankfurt. His research interests include countercultures and protestmovements, Japanese �lm and contemporary Japanese literature.

Contactjungmann@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Als Murakami Ryū (*1952) Ende der 1970er Jahre mit dem renommierten Akutagawa-Preis

für Literatur ausgezeichnet wurde, wurde er von den meisten etablierten Literaturkritikern Japans noch als eine Art Außenseiter betrachtet. Doch die Rolle des „Enfant terrible“ nahm Murakami dabei stets dankend an, und er positionierte sich bewusst außerhalb dessen, was einst als „reine Literatur“ (junbungaku) bzw. „moderne Literatur“ (kindai

bungaku) angesehen wurde. Heute mag Murakami längst im Literaturestablishment angekommen sein. Doch dies liegt in erster Linie an den Veränderungen auf dem japanischen Literaturmarkt, die er in seiner langen und produktiven Karriere maßgeblich mitgeprägt hat.

Die Entzauberung Japans: Murakami Ryū als Archetypischer Autor der Heisei-Ära

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Je�rey Angles (Michigan) & Christian Chappelow (Frankfurt) Friday, June 7th 2019 | 19:15-20:00 | Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

Poetry Reading: „Transcending Heisei“

Concluding our conference in Frankfurt and saying farewell to Heisei literature, Je�rey

Angles and Christian Chappelow will present poems that dared to look beyond the temporal and spatial con�nements of that era – poems that reected on Japanese reality from an intercultural perspective, that looked to the past to understand the present, or that glimpsed into the future to visualize the looming consequences of societal and

ecological unsustainability. We will draw inspiration from the poets discussed in our papers and present our translations of their work, hopefully creating the somewhat nostalgic air of a German “literary evening” (Literaturabend).

Zum Abschluss unserer Konferenz in Frankfurt, und um die Heisei-Literatur zu verabschieden,

präsentieren Je�rey Angles und Christian Chappelow Gedichte, die einen Blick jenseits der raumzeitlichen Grenzen dieser Ära gewagt haben – Gedichte, die eine japanische Realität in interkultureller Perspektive reektieren; die sich an die Vergangenheit wenden, um die Gegenwart zu verstehen; oder die in die Zukun� blicken,

um drohende Konsequenzen vernachlässigter gesellscha�licher und ökologischer Nachhaltigkeit zu spiegeln. Wir richten uns an die Lyrikerinnen und Lyriker, die wir in unseren Vorträgen besprochen haben, und lesen unsere Übersetzungen ihrer Texte – auch in der Ho�nung, noch einmal das nostalgische Flair des deutschen Literaturabends aueben zu lassen.

Gedichtlesung „Jenseits von Heisei“

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Directions | Wegbeschreibungen

Campus Westend | Campus Bockenheim

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The Eisenhower Room (Campus Westend)

By public transport: From Frankfurt Main Station, „Hauptbahnhof “, take the suburban railway (S-Bahn) lines 1 to 9 to „Hauptwache“ and transfer to subway line 1 in the direction of Ginnheim, line 2 in the direction of Gonzenheim, line 3 in the direction of Hohemark or line 8 in the direction of Riedberg and exit at „Holzhausenstraße“. University campus Westend is a 10 minute walk from subway station „Holzhausenstraße“ (line U3 and U8). � e „Eisenhower Room“ (also known as Room 1.314) is on the � rst oor in the former IG Farben building (No 1 on the map).

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Juridicum 717 (Campus Bockenheim)

By public transport: From Frankfurt Main Station, „Hauptbahnhof “, take suway line U4 in the direction of „Bockenheimer Warte“. University campus Bockenheim is a 2 minute walk from subway station „Bockenheimer Warte“.Room 717 is on the 7th oor of the „Juridicum“ (No 8 on the map).

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Cafés and Restaurants (Campus Bockenheim)

Café & Bar | ExtrablattGood for a quick co�ee and snack. Very close to Campus Bockenheim, at the „piazza“ near the medieval tower and subway station of Bockenheimer Warte.

Address: Bockenheimer Landstraße 141, 60325 Frankfurt am Main

Café & Bar | Café Albatros„Albatros“ is a very cozy café which also o�ers some decent meals. Service can be a bit slow here. Approx. 5 minute walk from Campus Bockenheim in direction of Frankfurt Main West.

Address: Kiesstraße 27, 60486 Frankfurt am Main

Café & Restaurant | Caféhaus SiesmayerLocated in the famous historic Botanical Gardens. O�ers good meals in a nice atmosphere. Approx. 15 minute walk from Campus Bockenheim in the direction of Palmengarten.

Address: Siesmayerstraße 59, 60323 Frankfurt am Main

Restaurant | Ramen JunVery cozy place for a bowl of Ramen. Approx. 10 minute walk from Campus Bockenheim in direction of Messe Frankfurt.

Address: Wilhelm-Hau�-Straße 10, 60325 Frankfurt am Main

Café & Bar | Café KoZ�is student-run café is at the very heart of Campus Bockenheim. It o�ers a decent co�ee and a few small snacks to eat. You may �nd Café KoZ right on the other side of the Campus square (approx. 2 minute walk), facing the Juridicum.

Address: Mertonstraße 26-28, 60325 Frankfurt am Main

Hotel | Hotel WestAddress: Gräfstraße 81, 60486 Frankfurt am MainTelephone: +49(0)69 2479020Website: https://www.hotelwest.de/

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Announcement | Ankündigung

Special Issue Heisei 1989-2019: Japanese Literature

An era is coming to an end in Japan. On April 30, 2019, Emperor Akihito handed the

chrysanthemum throne to his son Naruhito. His ceremonial enthronement began on May 1st, 2019 and marked a new era under the motto Reiwa. � e Heisei epoch – 1989 to 2019 – and the events of the last thirty years move into the realm of historicity.

Heisei had its share of tragic events: � e earthquake in Kōbe, the sarin gas attack by the neo-religious group AUM in the center of the Tōkyō metropolis, and � nally the threefold disaster in the northeast of the country. Japanese literature has extensively documented the Heisei Era and its historic occurences. Time-diagnostic writings were especially popular, creating numerous literary representations of the last three decades.

� e Special Issue Heisei 1989-2019 gives insights into the literary and cultural life of the past years. It aims to say goodbye, while also giving a glance into the future under the new banner of Reiwa. � e focus, therefore, is on the zero nendai and the 2000s – with hitherto in the West barely known writers such as Henmi Yō, Shiraishi Kazufumi, Murata Sayaka and Furuichi Noritoshi.

Edited by: Lisette Gebhardt, Damian David Jungmann, Christian Chappelow

Publisher: EB-Verlag Dr. Brandt, BerlinDate of Publication: June 2019

Language: GermanISBN: 978-3-86893-309-3Paperback | 144 pages

E-Mail: post@ebverlag.deInternet: www.ebverlag.de